There is Never too Much Pike Slime

Valentine's Day weekend we had some more company for a weekend of ice fishing fun. Nick, Lisa, Michael Parker, and Ethan Shetler wanted in on the fish that we have been pulling through the ice up here. I never could have imagined we could do better than the weekend Josh and kids came up, but we were going to try. The week before, I did some flag overhauling so we could actually see when there was a tip-up.

 I may or may not have raided Rachel's scrap materials. We have from left to right: Typar, Vet-bells, Alien Bob, Iowa, Iowa State, and lady-bug. They will serve us well.
Saturday morning we ate a quick breakfast, and then headed out into the frigid cold in search of pike. It was -10 degrees when we left in the morning, but warmed up to a balmy 3 degrees by noon. To top that off it was rather windy, but we were a motley crew, and we don't give up that easily. We set up the tent, and rotated who was on deck for tip-ups. Again, we hammered the fish, but the cold made for pike-cicles for most of our pictures.
My goal was to put Ethan on some toothy critters as he has not caught many. The shear look of enjoyment made my day.

This was probably the funniest moment of any ice trip I have witnessed: Ethan watch taking his usual rounds to bust open frozen holes, checking tippers in the process, and he caught yet another one. After unhooking the fish, he took 5 or 6 attempts at getting the pike back in the lake without success. He then proceeded to pick it up and try to stab the fish back into the lake.

 This is one of my favorite pics as well: The fish is literally freezing to Nick's hands as the pic is being taken, and these were the faces both Michael and Ethan produced when I said to drop the face masks. It was windy, and horrendously cold.

While everyone was out of the tent tending to their rotation on the tippers, I managed to catch a great pike, on Dad's pieced-together rig with a bobber and a double fat-head. We listened, and he was right. IT WORKS!

Not Long after, we called it an afternoon and headed home for FOOD!!!
We feasted on grilled, Yes, grilled dove, duck, steak, twice baked potatoes, and for those that remained conscious long enough, a double wacked-out chocolate cake. After a day on the truly frozen tundra, we ate like it was going to be our last meal.

The next morning, we didn't dawdle and got out on the lake in decent time. We decided on Indian Springs again, as it was closer and there was a better possibility of a missed bag. We got the catching fish part out of our system the day before, this time we were looking for a little finesse or big.
We continued our streak of decent pike on the tip-up, and our size average was much better on this lake.

 We sent up the tent initially in the shallows, but Nick and went out deep scouting for more fish and Nick found some perch. We moved camp and it was a wise decision. Ethan caught a few toad perch, and Nick managed a slob as well in the tent.

 We were having success in the tents and out. Michael iced what would have been one of the largest of the trip, but it was a really skinny fish, and upon closer inspection, some mouth malformations were the root of the problem.

 As with most trips, all things come to an end, and Nick gave us the one more tipper and done and Ethan pulled in a good one to finish out their ice trip.

I was happy to see these guys again and we enjoyed every minute on the ice. These guys goofed around more than anyone else I know. It was nice to get out on the ice and fish with a group that don't take things too seriously. I have always had an issue with that, and it was a nice change of pace.

As Michael and I watched them pull out of the drive, I got pestered for the next half hour by Michael. Each evening we watch the deer behind the house and Michael was convinced there was a shed back there that he needed to check out. While watching my landlord finish up plowing the parking lot, Michael scooted around the corner and off he goes.

The kid just couldn't help himself. No it was not a giant, nor was it the 'antler' he thought he was looking at from our window, but it was out there nevertheless....


 Monday morning was President's Day and as a government employee, I had the day off and Michael stuck around for one last try at the fish.
 The morning was not exactly what you would call going through the motions. We got stuck in a sizeable snow drift on our way out, to which we spent half and hour just trying to dig out. Once out, I started drilling holes and it we got 3 holes before I hit frozen mud.... I then hauled ass back home for tools, to which point I STILL grabbed the wrong ones, and something to attempt to sharpen the blades while on the auger. We did eventually get our holes drilled, but I about broke my arms in the process.
Anyway, We caught fish, and that's what mattered.

We did manage to get video of the last pike, but there are a few PG expletives. Michael was a tad excited.

As much as we thought it was a good idea to spend the rest of the day fishing, Michael took the responsible route and decided it was time to get on the road. The last few days we have been so tired after fishing, it was best to get back not at midnight. This inevitably concluded a fantastic weekend filled with excessive amounts of slime, and an extra run for bait. What a terrible problem to have! I am glad everyone was able to make the trip, and I look forward to the next outing with these guys.



Stay Tuned